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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoAP FILE PHOTOConsumers looking for and getting Black Friday deals at the local dealer helped make November a great month for the big automakers. Sales of small SUVs surged.

DETROIT — Americans proved last month that they’re head over heels about small SUVs. They also
wanted to buy more than video-game consoles and big-screen TVs on Black Friday.

November auto sales rose 9 percent from a year ago, with a solid piece of the gains coming over
the Thanksgiving weekend. Sales ran at an annual pace of 16.4 million cars and trucks last month,
the best in almost seven years.

The numbers gave further evidence that the small SUV is replacing the car as the vehicle of
choice for families and aging baby boomers.

Honda’s CR-V led the segment with 23,509 sold, up 5 percent to set a second-straight monthly
record. Sales of Toyota’s RAV4 rose 57 percent to 19,447. The all-new Jeep Cherokee sizzled,
topping 10,000 in sales during its first full month on the market.

Erich Merkle, Ford’s top sales analyst, said the small SUVs gained 2 percentage points of market
share in November compared with last year, while small and midsize cars lost 2 points combined.

Compact SUVs such as the RAV4 and CR-V make up 15.5 percent of U.S. sales. Americans bought a
little more than 1.8 million of them this year through November, a 21 percent increase from a year
ago.

“The compact SUVs are the perfect functional family vehicle of today,” said Jesse Toprak, senior
analyst for auto-pricing website TrueCar.com. “They provide a lot of car for your money, better gas
mileage than larger SUVS. They actually are fashionable nowadays.”

Also popular in November were Black Friday auto deals, traditionally a mainstay for chain stores
and technology retailers.

Toyota said more than 25 percent of its sales were over the holiday weekend. General Motors said
Black Friday is “obviously becoming a bigger go-to-market strategy in automotive, a little more
consistent with other industries.”

Dealers said November sales started slowly, but rose after Thanksgiving.

“Black Friday did give us a lift,” said Bill Perkins, president of two Chevrolet dealerships in
the Detroit suburbs of Taylor and Eastpointe, Mich.

Americans’ willingness to spend on big-ticket items such as autos could indicate that conditions
are improving for consumers.

“The economy is creating jobs and household wealth,” said Kurt McNeil, GM’s U.S. sales chief. “
Energy costs are dropping, and credit is available and affordable. All of this bodes well for
future growth.”

Industry analysts said small-car sales slowed because gas prices fell during November, while
midsize car sales also slowed as buyers defected to small SUVs. Automakers also are starting to
offer more deals on small cars, and especially midsize cars.

“If deals are to be had, that’s the segment to look at,” said Jeff Schuster, senior vice
president of auto-sales forecasting for LMC Automotive. “There are some models that are starting to
age.”

Heated competition in the midsize-car segment helped to bring the average sales price for all
vehicles down in November for the first time in three years, according to TrueCar. The average last
month was $30,634, a little less than 1 percent lower than a year ago. Incentives such as rebates
and low-interest loans rose 0.7 percent to an average of $2,507 per car.

The Cherokee helped boost Chrysler’s sales by a surprising 16 percent in November to lead all
major automakers. General Motors posted a 14 percent gain, Nissan rose 11 percent, and Toyota was
up 10 percent. Ford notched a 7 percent gain, and Hyundai sales rose just less than 5 percent. Of
major automakers, only Volkswagen and Honda reported sales drops. VW brand sales were down 16
percent, while Honda sales were off less than 1 percent.

Last month’s sales of 1.25 million cars and trucks came in stronger than many analysts had
predicted. Many automakers reported their best November in at least six years.